Backpacks are commonly used in recreational activities, such as hiking, climbing and skiing, to carry clothing, food, water, shelter, equipment and various other items. Backpacks are also used in everyday activities to carry items such as books, files and computers. Conventional backpacks typically employ a shoulder harness that extends over one or both of the wearer's shoulders in conjunction with a waist belt that wraps around the wearer's waist. The shoulder harness and waist belt allow the load of the backpack (and its contents) to be distributed over both the wearer's shoulders and waist.
Various movements of the backpack wearer may cause the load of the backpack to undesirably shift to one side of the body or the other. For example, rocking of the wearer's hips during walking or hiking (as a result of the wearer's natural gait) may cause the backpack and/or the load to shift with respect to the wearer's body, undesirably emphasizing the load on one of the hips, and/or on one or both of the shoulders. This shifting is often emphasized in situations where the wearer is traveling uphill, downhill, or across off-camber, rough and/or uneven terrain.
Numerous backpack suspension systems have been developed to reduce the shifting of the load on the wearer's body. For example, backpacks have been developed with semi-rigid frames that flex along with the wearer's body to reduce the shifting of the load. In addition, backpacks have been developed with pivoting hip belts that pivot to compensate for movement of the wearer's hips relative to the rest of their body. These packs, however, fail to adequately compensate for the shifting of the load. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a backpack suspension system that evenly distributes the backpack's load over the wearer's body throughout various movements and shifting of the body.